What causes ear stuffiness and tinnitus?

Tinnitus and ear stuffiness will stimulate the inside of the ear in the absence of any external sound, causing tinnitus and ear stuffiness. This is an auditory disorder. This condition can cause buzzing, tearing and sharp sounds in the ear, and the source of the sound cannot be found. Most of the causes of tinnitus are related to physiological and pathological factors. For example, the patient's ear has inflammation or infection, which requires timely examination and treatment.

Causes of tinnitus

Tinnitus is a sound that the human ear subjectively perceives in the absence of external sound or electrical stimulation. It is worth noting that tinnitus is an illusion occurring in the auditory system. It is a symptom rather than a disease. Some people often feel some special sounds in their ears, such as buzzing, hissing or sharp whistling, but they cannot find the corresponding sound source around. This situation is called tinnitus. Tinnitus makes people upset and restless, and in severe cases it can affect their normal life and work.

Tinnitus can occur in a variety of diseases. Almost any cause of ear disease can lead to tinnitus symptoms, but its relationship with hearing is complex. Tinnitus may be caused by just a small piece of wax touching the eardrum, but it may also be caused by a tumor located on the auditory nerve. Other causes such as otosclerosis (a disease that occurs in the ossicles of the middle ear), ototoxic drug poisoning, noise, etc. can all cause tinnitus to varying degrees. The manifestations of tinnitus vary. Some people have unilateral tinnitus, while others have bilateral tinnitus. Some occur intermittently, while others occur continuously. In mild cases, tinnitus is only felt in quiet times, while in severe cases, the person feels noisy and uneasy even in a busy city.

The main causes of tinnitus are ear diseases, such as external ear diseases: external otitis, cerumen embolism, foreign bodies in the external ear, acute and chronic inflammation of the middle ear, tympanic membrane perforation, otosclerosis and Meniere's syndrome and acoustic neuroma in the inner ear, all of which can cause tinnitus.

Tinnitus can also occur due to vascular diseases, such as glomus jugularis tumor, dilation of small blood vessels in the ear, vascular malformations, hemangiomas, etc. Tinnitus coming from veins is mostly noisy, while tinnitus coming from arteries is consistent with the pulsation of the pulse.

People have a common experience about the cause of noise. If you suddenly hear the sound of firecrackers, there will be a long echo in your ears, which will take half a day to subside. This is because the external noise temporarily damages the auditory nerve. Those who work in a noisy environment for a long time, such as tractor and car drivers, traffic police, armed police, soldiers, discotheque staff, mahjong players, people who attend long meetings, and operators of various equipment, are all victims of noise. Long-term noise stimulation often causes damage to the inner ear nerves. Noise-induced tinnitus is mainly manifested as a disorder of the spontaneous activity of auditory nerve fibers. Generally speaking, noise that exceeds the safety noise standard (85-90 decibels) may cause tinnitus and deafness. However, there are individual differences in sensitivity to noise of the same intensity, and only those who are sensitive will be harmed or suffer the most serious degree of harm.

Some other systemic diseases can also cause tinnitus: autonomic nervous system disorders, lack of blood supply to the brain, pre-stroke, hypertension, hypotension, anemia, diabetes, malnutrition. The incidence of tinnitus in people over 60 years old is as high as 30%. The main reason is the degeneration of the auditory nervous system as people age.